INDIFFERENT ENGINE – Proxima

The best aspect of the progressive metal genre is that it can be combined with basically anything and still work very well. Indifferent Engine are a progressive metal band that keep it metal, but add in plenty of punk influence to create a sound that is unique. Their new EP, titled “Proxima” came out on the 11th, and shows off this band’s sound very nicely. “Entombed” opens up this album, and does so with a shorter, faster, and very progressive first song. The band’s use of punk influence is also welcome, as it adds to the sound without taking away from the usual positives that comes with this genre. This leads into “Baikonur”, which has a really awesome opening guitar. This song feels like a natural progression of the next one, and is, again short, another good outing by the band.

“Cockpit” is a bit more upbeat than the previous songs, and uses the progressive aspect to make this transition in tone welcome. “Singularity” ends this album, and is the long ending track that is expected of the progressive genre. After a long ambient opening that at first is a bit tonally jarring, the second half of this song goes back to the progressive metal of the earlier songs. The lead guitar on here great, and the overall songwriting is great. This is a very solid EP. It does feel a bit weighted in terms of focus, with the first three songs feeling like elongated setups for the massive finally, but luckily everything manages to stand on its own to create a very solid effort.